Kaman K-1200 N267KA

Summary

On 17 December 2008 at about 17:30 local time, a Kaman K-1200 registered N267KA, operated by Superior Leasing LLC, was involved in an accident near Santa Clarita, California, United States. 2 people were on board. One person on the ground also died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 December 2008 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Clarita, California, United States

Coordinates

34.4767, -118.4603

Aircraft

Kaman K-1200

Registration

N267KA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Superior Leasing LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Clarita → Los Angeles

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA057

Injuries not recorded.

The helicopter's encounter with a gusty crosswind condition during engine start that exceeded the helicopter's demonstrated wind envelope.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

With the engine started and at flight idle, the ground crewman/mechanic disconnected the ground power cart from the helicopter's external power unit plug. As the ground crewman/mechanic was walking away from the helicopter, the pilot detected that a gust of wind was lifting the aircraft up off of its right main landing gear. The pilot applied full right cyclic to counter the uplifting condition; however, the wind gust continued lifting the helicopter to the left and nose down until the aircraft came to rest inverted. As the helicopter was rolling over, the main rotor blades impacted a fueling truck and struck the ground crewman/mechanic. There was no postcrash fire. The pilot noted that the winds were generally light and variable at the time of engine start, and estimated that the gust was from the east-southeast at up to 15 knots. He further reported that gusty, unpredictable wind conditions were not uncommon in the area. The closest aviation weather reporting station was 22 miles south east of the accident site and was reporting winds from 030 degrees at 7 knots. According to the Kaman K-1200 flight manual, the maximum right quartering tailwind condition for takeoff and landing is from 17 knots to 25 knots. The winds at the accident site most likely exceeded the maximum wind allowed with reference to the helicopter's prevailing wind envelope, which resulted in the helicopter lifting to the left and rolling over.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.